To encourage young people to join or further their careers in the wool harvesting industry, a series of three short videos has been released that showcase the wide range of rewarding and exciting careers available in the industry.
The videos, produced for AWI and SCAA Shearer Woolhandler Training Inc who partnered for the project, were released on Facebook in May and quickly amassed almost 65,000 views.
The videos were shot in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania at some of Australia’s most impressive woolsheds. Drone footage was taken at the Nutt family’s ‘Pandurra Station’, 40km west of Port Augusta; with in-shed footage from the Von Bibra family’s iconic ‘Beaufront’ property at Ross in Tasmania and the historic ‘Mount Hesse’ woolshed built in 1852 at Winchelsea in Victoria.
While looking at the benefits of working as a shearer or woolhandler, the videos also highlight the many other jobs that the industry has to offer plus the opportunities for career advancement and pathways in the industry.
In the main video, titled This is where the wool industry can take you, which runs for five minutes, viewers hear snippets from people already working in the industry about how they are enjoying the benefits of working in an exciting, challenging and rewarding industry. The opportunities to travel, stay fit, meet new people, enjoy the shed lifestyle and earn good pay are just some of the reasons highlighted.
The other two videos are a fast-paced and eye-catching half-minute in length. Each encourages young people needing a gap year job to come and try the wool industry and see where the industry can take them.
The three videos feature wool handlers, shearers, a crutcher, sheepo, shearing contractor, wool presser, wool classer, shearers’ cook, shearer and wool handler trainers, farm owners, a wool store manager, wool buyer, quality control manager at a wool processing plant, and AWI’s Program Manager for Wool Harvesting Training and Development, Craig French.
